James Anderson selected his top-10 best fast bowlers of all time, this Indian star also got a place

By Samira Vishwas On Dec 16, 2025

Former England fast bowler James Anderson has recently selected his top-10 best fast bowlers of all time during the Ashes Test Series 2025-26 being played between England and Australia. He selected this list under the Blind Ranking Challenge on the Instagram page of Tailenders Podcast.

Anderson placed former great England all-rounder Ian Botham at the first place in his list. Botham took 528 wickets in his international career and on many occasions changed the course of the match with both ball and bat. At the second position, he gave place to former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, who ruled for a long time with his lethal bowling by taking 699 international wickets.

In this list, India’s current star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been placed at third place. Bumrah has taken 484 international wickets so far and his average is less than 21. Anderson ranked Bumrah above legends like Wasim Akram, Shaun Pollock, Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson, which makes this selection all the more special.

Former Pakistan great left arm fast bowler Wasim Akram was ranked fourth by Anderson and described him as the best left arm pacer of all time. West Indies’ Michael Holding was ranked fifth, while Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga was ranked sixth.

Former South African captain Shaun Pollock finished seventh, New Zealand’s Trent Boult finished eighth and former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson finished ninth. The last name in this top-10 list was England’s Joffra Archer, who was included by Anderson due to his talent and impressive bowling.